Saint John

UNB

Sandra Latchford 2007 President's Medal Recipient

Associate
Professor Sandra Latchford is a passionate advocate for people with
disabilities and accessibility challenges. Because sufficient funding
to address needs is always a challenge, she has taken the initiative to
seek funding for her student clients wherever she could find it.
Sandra’s writing ability, coupled with her innovative ideas has garnered
program resources for UNB’s Centre for Students with Disabilities. The
HRSDC grant (see below) has given UNB the ability to assist students in
their transition from post-secondary study to the working environment.
This transitional program would not have been possible without the
innovation of Sandra and her ability to be forward-thinking in her
approach to education and sustainable employment for students with
disabilities.

Another innovation program, developed by
Sandra and a Student Affairs and Services Colleague, was the NB
Training and Employment Support Services (TESS) funding proposal
entitled the “Centre for Excellence” (see below). The vision of this
Centre was to provide support for students with disabilities to ensure
their successful progression through post-secondary studies. TESS
provided resources totaling $249,000.00 in 2002-2005 thereby offering
UNB the ability to develop and hire the following positions: Technical
Advisor; Exam Supervisors; Study Skills/Test Taking
Skills/Proofreader/Tutors; Coaches/Mentors and; Psychomotrist. Sandra
also successfully spearheaded UNBF’s accessibility audit entitled
“Looking to the Future” resulting in many positive recommendations for
improvement in reference to staff/faculty/student accessibility.

2005-07 Partnered with the Easter
Seals March of Dimes to develop the Successful Transition to Employment
Program (STEP) for Persons with Disabilities which will provide UNBF
with $390,000.00 in funding from HRSDC. Training materials that can be
used by other post-secondary institutions will be developed for
distribution.

2002-05 A three year grant from NB
Training and Employment Support Services (TESS) for $249,000 to deliver
specialized services to students with disabilities enrolled at UNBF.

Sandra’s career at UNB has spanned close
to 21 years. Originally hired as Coordinator of the UNB Learning
Centre on July 1, 1984; transitioned to Coordinator of Services for
Students with Disabilities in 1995 until her retirement in the summer of
2005. It would be hard to quantify her lasting impact, as she has been
significantly involved in students’ lives and in developing awareness
in the field of disabilities. She has worked just as tirelessly on
behalf of faculty and staff with needs, raising awareness at every turn.

Sandra is the type of individual who
works countless hours to ensure student success, from arranging
accommodations in classes, to taking food to an ill student, to
attending every graduation where her shouts can be heard the loudest as
her students successfully graduate from UNB. Sandra is a tour de force;
she has been at the forefront of advocating for the support of students
with disabilities in being able to successfully complete post-secondary
education and find rewarding employment.